In the related art, a cutting apparatus configured to cut a processed tape including a first cutting mechanism having a full-cutting function, a second cutting mechanism having a half-cutting function, a single cutter motor configured to drive the first and second cutting mechanisms, and a driving mechanism configured to drive the first cutting mechanism and the second cutting mechanism on the basis of driving of the cutter motor is known (see Japanese Patent No. 4539620). The second cutting mechanism includes a cradle and a movable blade which can be moved toward and away from the cradle, and is configured to form a space by a dimension corresponding to the thickness of the release tape between the movable blade and the cradle by bringing a pair of projecting portions provided at both end portions of the movable blade into abutment with the cradle, whereby cutting (half cutting) of the body tape of the processed tape is achieved. Also, at the time of the half cutting, reliable cutting is achieved by driving the cutter motor for seconds longer than those required for bringing the projecting portions of the movable blade into abutment with the cradle, so that a clear half cutting is achieved. At that time, in order to prevent the cutter motor from being applied with at least a certain amount of torque, a torque limiter is interposed in a transmitting mechanism of the driving mechanism. The torque limiter includes a pair of gears and a coil spring interposed between the both gears.
However, since the cutting apparatus of the related art as described above has a configuration to control a cutting force of the half cutter (the second cutting mechanism) using the torque limiter having a coil spring as a main structure, there is a problem in that the cutting force of the half cutter is not stable due to the error in accuracy around the coil spring. In other words, the coil spring itself has errors in accuracy in spring force and spring stroke, and the coefficient of static friction between the coil spring and a portion receiving the coil spring becomes an error in accuracy, so that the control value of the torque is not stabilized. Therefore, the stable cutting force cannot be obtained at the time of the half cutting, and such an event that the body tape is also cut or the release tape is not cut occurs. There is also a problem that the apparatus becomes complex and is upsized by mounting the torque limiter.